Colorstore’s Final Show Will Honor Mark Erickson

The news of Mark Erickson’s suicide in September hit the Phoenix music community hard. Erickson was a familiar face on stage, performing in local groups including ROAR, Gospel Claws, and Sweetbleeders. But it was Colorstore, the band he fronted for nearly a decade, that most reflects Erickson’s commanding, singular vision…

Record Heat: Sigh by Brad Dwyer

Once a week Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…

Elizabeth Kennedy Bayer, What Are You Listening To?

Elizabeth Kennedy Bayer The composer hosts the podcast Trainwreck in Progress. Listen to it here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I drive a scooter! (You know, the orange one with the green, fuzzy seat.) So no…

Download: Fayuca’s Heavy “The Cycle”

Local Latin, reggae, and punk peddlers Fayuca have seen their fair share of success as a productive year comes to an end. Now the trio is ready to step up their game with a brand new album that’s almost within earshot. We document the band’s 11-year run in this week’s…

John “Speedo” Reis Brings Hot Snakes and Night Marchers to Town

John Reis’ musical résumé includes at least four defunct bands that people would pay lots of money to see today. One is Hot Snakes, a San Diego-based quartet that blends the simplicity of three-chord garage rock (à la the Wipers) with the downstrummed aural assault championed by Johnny Ramone. But…

Fayuca Deals in Latin, Punk, and Reggae

“Fayuca” is Spanish slang for the contraband markets that spring up in Mexico. These are places where any assortment of illicit goods can be found and purchased, from televisions to leather jackets, prosthetic limbs to staple foods. And it is where that Phoenix’s reggae-punk-Latin rock band gets its name. “We’re…

Does Becoming a Dad Mean the Death of My Music Dream?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…

Forget the Rules: You Can Wear a Rush Shirt to a Rush Concert

My original aim in this blog was to document what kind of non-Rush shirts were worn by Rush fans at the band’s concert Sunday night. However, the results were fundamentally uninteresting. Kiss, Iron Maiden on the old guard, and on younger fans, modern proggy acts like Primus and Tool. There…

Garrit Ross, What Are You Listening To?

Garrit Ross The DJ invites you to the Electric Playlist Launch Party on Saturday, November 24 from 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. at the 5th Street Bar on Mill Avenue. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station…

Lauren Farrah Is “Queen of Odd Jobs” But Finds Songwriting to Be Her Calling

Center stage, her honey-brown hair falling in her face, Lauren Farrah crouches over her acoustic guitar. Her voice rises and falls in short bursts, echoing in the Icehouse in downtown Phoenix.The Roaring Twenties-era venue screams cool, post-apocalyptic chic with its stark, open-air rooms with towering concrete walls. She’s performing on…